Work Hard. Play Hard.

 

I’m sorry. This blog will be about sports. You have been warned.

Take a moment to remember a time when you worked so physically hard that afterwards you were so worn out that you were dripping sweat, sucking air, and could barely move. What was the activity that caused this reaction? What was the reason behind throwing your body into such self-destruction? Say your answer out loud to yourself.

I used to run track and cross country in high school, and continued to play basketball recreationally in college. However, since college, I’ve lost most, if not, all of my physical endurance. I’m still active, but for much shorter periods of time. I guess that’s somewhat to be expected with age. This past February, wanting to do something different, I went out for a run. I went to a park that had about a two mile loop bordering the edges. I could barely “run” a couple minutes before being out of breath and stopping to walk. Thoughts of “Well, I guess running’s not for me” ran through my head, and at a much more convincing pace than I was I might add. The more I forced myself to run, the more I could see the progress. I’ve been able to play with Max longer, able to do more work, able to play more 1v1 basketball games at the church.

This past month has been an amazing month for viewing sports for me. First off, the Milwaukee Bucks. Wow! Regardless of your own team allegiances, this was huge for the city, local small businesses, the franchise, and in my opinion, the NBA. One thought that crossed my mind was that it was 50 years since there first championship. 50 years! That’s ten years longer than the Israelites wandered the desert before making it to the promised land. If that victory can arouse an entire city to celebrate something as trivial as being the best in the world at a child’s game, imagine the joy and jubilation from the anticipation and eventual coming of the Messiah for God’s people back in the day! I’ve dwelled on the word “hope” a lot in regards to the Bucks. “Calm down Andrew, it’s just a team.” No, YOU calm down! Just kidding. In my life, I’ve gotten used to the Bucks being just good enough to get kicked out of the first round of the playoffs each year. Them winning a championship in my lifetime, especially them being a small-market team where any all-stars tend to leave Milwaukee to join bigger teams with bigger money, seems unlikely, seemed improbable. What I love about this team is just how hard they play…on every possession. I understand why Giannis takes so long at the free throw line, to gain just a few more seconds of rest.

I might get some flack for this, but I have enjoy watching the CrossFit Games way more than the Olympic Games this year. I’ve never done CrossFit, never plan on doing CrossFit, but I have a tremendous respect for the athletes that do it on a professional level. If you’re unfamiliar, the point of the CrossFit Games is to crown the fittest man/woman in the world, not the strongest, the fittest. Athletes from all around basically compete in exercising. Sounds silly, but when you watch an athlete just absolutely crush weightlifting just as easily as handstand walking, jump roping, swimming, biking, running, you tend to wonder what they can’t do. They compete in about three or four workouts/competitions each day and gain points based on their results. Each event ends the same way, athletes race to cross the finish line and then lay flat on their backs gasping for air, hands on heads, trying to recover as quickly as possible before the next competition. Why? Why do this to yourself? In many interviews, these athletes will talk about the desire to push the limits of what humans are capable of.

This year's CrossFit Games winner

There is something beautiful, even spiritual, in how struggles produce strength. The longer a tree withstands the elements, the stronger the trunk gets, being able to take on more. The more pressure and work your put on your muscles, the more they are able to withstand in the future. A vinedresser cuts away the branches that don’t produce fruit and casts them into the fire, while the ones that do, he prunes to become more fruitful. Those that have gone through a tragedy in their lives tend to be the most capable of comforting those who will go through the same thing. I can only hope and pray that when this pandemic is over (and it will eventually be over) that we come out of it stronger than we were before. I feel the stages in the life cycle of brokenness and struggle is:

1.      1. Breaking

2.      2. Broken

3.      3. Healing

4.      4. Healed

5.      5. Strengthened

6.      6. Strength to heal others

I feel many are still in stages 1-3 of this pandemic. The difference between this pandemic and a successful athlete is that one of them happened to us unexpectedly and the other was a taken-on struggle. Both hurts will produce strength. One reaps mourning; the other, glory.

Are you letting life happen to you or are you making life happen? In what ways has God equipped you in your life to help strengthen others? Who do you have the capacity to encourage, love, and acknowledge today? Spread the love. Do you yourself feel empty, alone, broken, in need of encouragement, love, and acknowledgement? Tell God about it, ask him for healing. It will not fall on deaf ears.

Romans 5:13 says, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”

Thanks for reading! I promise there will be a more update-like blog next month.